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CoraGinsburg-11/2006.qxd 11/22/06 11:26 AM Page 1 CORA GINSBURG LLC TITI HALLE OWNER A Catalogue of exquisite & rare works of art including 17th to 20th century costume textiles & needlework Winter 2006 by appointment 19 East 74th Street tel 212-744-1352 New York, NY 10021 fax 212-879-1601 www.coraginsburg.com [email protected] EMBROIDERED LINEN FOREHEAD CLOTH English, ca. 1610 Triangular in shape and lavishly embellished, a forehead cloth—also called a cross-cloth or crosset—was a feminine accessory sometimes worn with a coif, an informal type of cap. Rare after the mid-seventeenth century, forehead cloths first appeared in conjunction with the coif around 1580; embroidered with patterns to match, they were worn around the forehead and draped over the coif with the point facing backwards. Though the occasions on which a lady might wear a forehead cloth are not fully known, it seems that they were used for bedside receptions and in times of sickness. In his 1617 travels through Ireland, English author Fynes Moryson observed that, “Many weare such crosse-clothes or forehead clothes as our women use when they are sicke.” The remarkable embroidery seen here shows the practiced hand of a professional. Much fine needlework was accomplished domestically in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England, but there were also workshops and skilled individuals that catered to the luxury trade. The Broderers’ Company, an organization for professional needleworkers, was founded under Royal Charter in 1561; specialists were also retained for wealthy private households, and journeymen embroiderers were hired as necessity demanded. Distinctly Jacobean, this pattern was possibly inspired by one or more plates in Thomas Trevelyon’s Miscellany, a compilation of embroidery designs published in 1608. In comparison with other known examples, this forehead cloth is noteworthy for its symmetrical disposition of interlaced scrolls, expertly worked with metallic silver-wrapped threads in an unusual variation of compound loop stitching. The graceful curling stems terminate in vividly shaded pansies, marigolds and strawberries; two confronted birds, eager to taste the ripe fruits, perch on the substantial metallic framework. Silver sequins, each anchored with a tiny pink knot, are strewn across the linen surface, imparting brilliance to the sophisticated design. Not wanting to waste any materials by cutting through existing embroidery, this artisan completed the needlework only to the edges of the required design—especially evident in the working of the incomplete birds, at top and bottom corners. Though there are documented examples where both components are still in an attached state, forehead cloths are most often found disassociated from their coifs. This unique forehead cloth is undoubtedly the mate to a coif worked with the identical pattern in the Museum of London collection (MOL A6046). 8” H x 17” W 2 2 CoraGinsburg-11/2006.qxd 11/22/06 11:26 AM Page 4 PAIR OF CREWELWORK CURTAINS MADE BY ELIZABETH NEWMAN British, dated 1709 Elizabeth Newman’s bed curtains illustrate the qualities that mark crewelwork as a distinctive highlight of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British needlework. With fresh colors and a sense of exuberance, her design takes the Eastern influences of the Tree of Life, long-plumed birds and exotic flowers and makes them quintessentially British. Yet within the framework of traditional crewelwork, Elizabeth Newman adds her own distinctions—the hillocks are composed of wide yellow and green bands; densely worked three-dimensional grapes hang from vines; and, in addition to the expected deer, fox and birds, there appears on one curtain a blue horse with a bristling mane posing at the lower edge. The second curtain features a white horse and the inscription “Elizabeth Newman her work 1709.” The differently colored horses reflect the design distinctions found throughout the pair. While the composition of both curtains have identical overall appearances, attention to the details reveals the embroiderer’s skillful play on variations of color, stitches and techniques within the repeated motifs. The lively colors—greens, yellows and pinks that retain their original brightness—demonstrate the rich palette of wool yarns available in the early eighteenth century. An extensive repertoire of stitches and geometric filling patterns learned by Elizabeth Newman in prior needlework exercises is utilized in her crewelwork with great success. Highly decorative leaves and tendrils, accented with clusters of grapes, hanging pears and numerous animals appear on both curtains, yet each displays individual characteristics. Bed hangings were among the most important furnishing fabrics in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century British houses. Serving as a focal point of a family’s interior social realm, the hangings provided privacy and warmth while displaying status. Needlework of this type was made at home, rather than by professional embroiderers, and as such represented the talents and industriousness of female family members within the domestic sphere. As was typical, Elizabeth Newman worked a complete crewel bed set—in addition to this pair of curtains, two narrow curtains and a valance also survive, all in excellent condition. On April 19, 1720, Elizabeth Newman married Daniel Fromanteel. The crewelwork, as well as other embroideries by Elizabeth, was passed down to their daughter, Martha, and then descended through several generations of the family. A full provenance is available. 78.5” H x 73” W each 4 CoraGinsburg-11/2006.qxd 11/22/06 11:26 AM Page 6 SILK FURNISHING PANEL MANUFACTURED BY MAISON PERNON & CIE, ATTRIBUTED TO JEAN-DÉMOSTHÈNE DUGOURC French (Lyon), 1788 Maison Pernon, one of the leading eighteenth-century silk manufacturers of La Grande Fabrique (the workshops that constituted the industry in Lyon) was renowned for its production of high- end furnishing textiles. In the latter decades of the century, when the firm was managed by father and son, Etienne and Camille Pernon (1753–1808), they received commissions from the Garde Meuble de la Couronne for the royal residences of Versailles, Compiègne and Saint-Cloud. The entrepreneurial Camille Pernon traveled widely and actively sought the patronage of royal and aristocratic foreign clients, especially in Russia and Spain. From 1780, he held the position of Agent de Sa Majesté l’Impératrice de Toutes les Russies. Pernon’s associate in Spain, François Grognard, was instrumental in securing orders from the Spanish monarchy and aristocrats as well as ambassadors to its court. In his correspondence with Pernon, Grognard often emphasized his clients’ eagerness to acquire the most up-to-date French silks. This elegant wall covering in the newest taste was commissioned from Pernon in 1788 through Grognard for the count of Miranda. Strictly symmetrical, the candelabra composition includes disparate elements unified into a coherent column. At the top, a bowl of fruit with beribboned grape garlands to either side is set on a lion-footed stand; swans perched on scrolling tendrils suspend pendants with the company’s initials from their beaks. In the middle section are tasseled lambrequins over griffin-headed ewers on caduceus staffs and an octagonal medallion enclosing a floral spray tied with a bowknot. At the bottom are confronted butterfly-winged hounds and a circular medallion enclosing a flowering double-handled vase, flanked by birds and hovering butterflies. The restrained yet highly sophisticated design is enhanced by the simplicity of the color scheme and weave structure in brilliant yellow satin with ivory weft patterning. The back of the silk is stamped “10789” at the top and “Grand Frères” at the bottom, with the handwritten number “P.1586.” Grand Frères was the successor company to Maison Pernon following the death of Camille Pernon in 1808; the stamp indicates that the panel became part of the new firm’s archives. The overt references to classical antiquity are very much in the style of Jean-Démosthène Dugourc (1749–1825), a celebrated Lyonnais designer and leading exponent of the goût étrusque, which he claimed in his autobiography to have invented. In the 1780s, Dugourc worked closely with Camille Pernon and collaborated on several residential projects for the Spanish monarchy. Dugourc’s treatment of classicizing motifs would become a standard aspect of the design vocabulary and repertoire during the First Empire. An identical silk in the collection of Maison Tassinari et Chatel, illustrated in Soieries de Lyon: Commandes royales au XVIIIe S. 1730-1800 (1988), cat. 60, is identified as a commission for the count of Miranda in 1788. Another identical example, in ivory on a salmon-pink ground, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (33.140) is attributed to Jean-Démosthène Dugourc and illustrated in Vasemania–Neoclassical Form and Ornament: Selections from the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2004), plate 78. 69” H x 21.5” W 6 REDWORK PICTURE WITH THE STORY OF ABRAHAM AND HAGAR, INITIALED A E British, third quarter of the 17th c. Abraham’s dismissal of Hagar and their son Ishmael is one of the many popular Old Testament stories depicted in seventeenth-century needlework pictures. The imagery of these works is often based on engravings from Gerard de Jode’s 1585 compilation Thesaurus Sacrarum Historiarum Veteris Testamenti. While the biblical figures in de Jode’s engravings wear loose, classical garments, embroidery patterns derived in the seventeenth century from this print source typically clothe the figures in contemporary fashions. The modified and updated patterns for needlework circulated among numerous embroiderers over a period of decades, resulting in similar works with variations in technique, color and materials. The composition of this picture, which illustrates an episode from Abraham’s life, appears in several related examples. Most are worked in polychrome silk tent stitch, as is seen in works from the Untermyer collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Monochromatic examples are rarer. A nearly identical redwork embroidery is in the collection of the Royal Museum of Scotland.